Supporter Kathy Benson and friends have been doing some garage sale shopping for the chimpanzees. Check out Missy playing tether ball with a boat bumber!
Cle Elum Seven
Jamie with new toy
Target Wishlist!
Sarah had a brilliant idea the other day – registering at stores for some items we need for the chimp house and some things we’d love to have, including toys for the chimpanzees. So far, we’ve registered at Target for a housewarming enrichment party for the chimpanzees on July 20th. We’ll continue to add stuff to the registry in the coming days, but we have a good sized list going now. As you’ll see we need a lot of storage items. You can find it by going to this link: http://www.target.com/lists/SNL0NKQGP6OU or by searching at target.com under ‘wishlists’, choosing ‘advanced search’ and typing in “chimpanzee sanctuary northwest” under the organization name field.
Aside from the items on the Target registry, there are a few other things that we are in need of that are more day-to-day items:
For the kitchen and general cleaning: paper cups, paper lunch sacks, herbal tea (esp. berry flavored), seal-able freezer bags, ‘friendly’ dish soap such as Planet brand (for Jamie’s cleaning), disposable medical exam gloves, sturdy garbage bags, very large non-breakable bowls
To give to the chimpanzees: new or gently used sheets, sturdy scrub brushes, new sturdy hair brushes, non-toxic paint, inexpensive canvases for painting (on cardboard backer, not stretched on frame), rolls of paper such as butcher paper or plain brown wrapping paper, new large paint brushes, non-toxic paint, sturdy wading pools (notice the “sturdy” theme), new or nearly new socks, unused non-toxic and animal friendly lipstick and other make-up
I know there’s lots more – that’s just what’s coming to me at the moment. We’ll be making our online wishlist more up-to-date very soon. Thanks!!
photos – legos box, painting, missy in bed
Socks
Sometimes the simplest things provide entertainment. Today (Thursday), Sarah brought in a few pairs of socks she no longer wanted. Jamie was the first person to try them out. She took the longest pair and put one over her hand, pulling it all the way up to her armpit. She walked around for quite some time like that, then pulled it off and put it on the other arm. Missy put another sock over her left foot. She made a point of showing me her foot with the sock when she saw me.
Watermelon Forage, Missy in a box
Today was a good day. Jamie greeted us wearing a necktie she fashioned out of a strip of sheet. Negra was stubborn about leaving the front rooms after breakfast (while it sometimes messes with the routine, stubbornness is a characteristic I find completely understandable in captive chimpanzees, and I actually appreciate when someone decides they can choose to do what they want rather than going with what the humans want). For dinner, we had a big watermelon forage, and, for the first time since they arrived, the building erupted in food grunts. Then, during dinner, Missy sat in a banana box and ate her watermelon. What more could anyone ask for in a day at a chimpanzee sanctuary? Diana
Haunting Before Photo of Jody
I keep thinking about the photo below. Jody looks so fragile. Like all of the chimpanzees who came from the laboratory, Jody’s hair is very sparse and her skin is loose over her atrophied muscles. I think this will be a “Before” photo and I will take another photo from the same vantage point in several months. Soaking in the sun and having the ability to climb and run and play will make a huge difference.
